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Fairline Yachts announces plans for new UK factory

British luxury boat manufacturer, Fairline Yachts, has announced plans for a new manufacturing facility in the UK. These shore side premises will enable Fairline to build larger yachts, which has not been possible at the firm’s existing Oundle, Northamptonshire location.

Fairline’s existing manufacturing base in Oundle will continue to operate and will build boats up to 70ft. Whilst those over 70ft will be built at the new site with testing, commissioning and customer handover also taking place there.

The acquisition of this water front production facility represents a monumental shift in circumstances for Fairline, going from administration and uncertainty, to investing heavily in the brand’s future in just 18 months. It is estimated that 200 new jobs will be created.

Fairline’s Oundle base will remain and yachts over 70ft long will be manufactured at the new site / Picture: Fairline

Russell Currie, Managing Director of Fairline Yachts, said: “This is the next big step in the upward journey of Fairline Yachts and proves our commitment to investing in British boatbuilding. Part of our promise when we launched the new company in January 2016, was to build boats that our dealers want to sell and their customers want to own and clearly, we are achieving that goal. However, the global market is constantly changing and many key yachting territories demand yachts larger than we are currently able to create. We don’t want our growth to be hampered by the restrictions on our build capabilities at our existing Oundle site.

By increasing our manufacturing facilities we are future-proofing Fairline Yachts, giving us room to expand and create exciting new yachts.”

Building work at the new Fairline manufacturing premises will commence later this year and the first boats will begin production in the late summer of 2018.